As of March 2015, New Jersey is one of 19 states that is under divided government and is therefore not one of the state government trifectas.

Sessions

Article IV of the New Jersey Constitution establishes when the New Jersey State Legislature, of which the General Assembly is a part, is to be in session. Section 1 of Article IV states that each annual session is to begin on the second Tuesday of January. The session does not end until the beginning of the next annual session or until the Legislature chooses to adjourn.

Section 1 also allows for special sessions of the Legislature to be called by the Governor of New Jersey or by a majority of the members of each legislative house.

Elections

Four states, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey and Virginia hold their state legislative elections in odd-numbered years. New Jersey began holding elections in odd numbered years when the state adopted a new constitution in 1947. Prior to the new constitution, members of the Assembly were elected to one-year terms, members of the Senate to three-year terms and governors to three-year terms. The new constitution changed the term structure to include two years for representatives and four year terms for senators and governors. Because the constitution was adopted in an odd-numbered year, elections were also held in odd-numbered years and have continued in such a manner to this day.[7]

The notion also exists that the reason for odd year elections exists to insulate New Jersey politics from national politics. Former New Jersey Governor Alfred E. Driscoll made the following statement before the constitutional convention in 1947:[7]

...the election for a Governor and for Assemblymen should not coincide with a Presidential election. The importance of a gubernatorial election merits an election that will not be overshadowed by a national contest for the Presidency. The problems confronting the State are frequently distinct from those confronting the nation...

This chart shows how many candidates ran for state house in New Jersey in past years and the cumulative amount of campaign contributions in state house races, including contributions in both primary and general election contests. All figures come from Follow The Money.[8]

Vacancies

There are two ways to fill an vacancy in the house. For any vacancy that happens in session, a special election must be conducted within 51 days of the vacancy. All other vacancies must be filled by the county leadership of the political party that holds the seat.[16]

Redistricting

Redistricting is handled by the bipartisan 10-member New Jersey Redistricting Commission.

2010 census

The State of New Jersey received its local census data on February 3, 2011.[17]. From that point, the Commission had 60 days to ultimately settle on a map. The state's population grew five percent to 8.8 million from 2000 to 2010.[18]

Unable to agree on a map within 30 days, Rutgers law professor Alan Rosenthal was appointed as the nonpartisan 11th member of the commission, as called for. When a compromise could not be reached, he cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of the Democratic map on April 3, 2011.[19]

History

Partisan balance 1992-2013

From 1992-2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the New Jersey State House of Representatives for the last 12 years and the Republicans were the majority for the first 10 years.

Across the country, there were 577 Democratic and 483 Republican State Houses of Representatives from 1992 to 2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states have divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

SQLI and partisanship

New Jersey was one of eight states to demonstrate a dramatic partisan shift in the 22 years studied. A dramatic shift was defined by a movement of 40 percent or more toward one party over the course of the study period.

The chart below depicts the partisanship of New Jersey state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. New Jersey had Republican trifectas from 1994-2001 and Democratic trifectas from 2004-2009. There were four years when New Jersey finished in the top-10, all of those years with Republican trifectas.

SQLI average with Democratic trifecta: 18.67

SQLI average with Republican trifecta: 9.75

SQLI average with divided government: 21.86

Chart displaying the partisanship of New Jersey government from 1992-2013 and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI).